Pollution targets are set -- what's a motorist to do?

So, on Thursday the California Air Resources Board set greenhouse gas reduction targets for the San Diego region’s passenger vehicles of 7 percent by 2020 and 13 percent by 2035.

What does that mean, exactly?

For a starting point, we need to ask “Seven percent of what?” For the answer, we go back to 2005 and look at the emissions from passenger cars and light trucks. That is the baseline that the Air Resources Board is working off to meet requirements set out in SB375, passed in 2008.

In 2005, San Diego area motorists were pumping out an average 26 pounds of carbon dioxide per person each weekday, according to the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), the regional planning agency which was instrumental in establishing local numbers with the Air Resources Board.

According to SANDAG, a pound of CO2 could fill two large garbage bags. The average San Diego motorists was producing 52 garbage bags worth of CO2 - each weekday.

To meet the first goal, a 7 percent reduction by 2020, San Diego area drivers need to cut their tailpipe output by 1.8 pounds of CO2 each weekday. That’s the equivalent of burning 21 fewer gallons of gas per year or equal to planting five (carbon absorbing) trees and cultivating them for 10 years, according to SANDAG.

Obviously it gets tougher when you try to meet the 2035 goal of a 13 percent reduction in CO2.

Motorists would need to cut emissions by 3.4 pounds per week day, says SANDAG. The agency offers three ways of accomplishing that goal: 1. Burn 38 fewer gallons of gas a year. 2. Plant nine trees and maintain them for a decade. 3. Recycle 228 pounds of waste instead of sending it to the landfill.

SANDAG is currently working on its draft 2050 Regional Transportation Plan which will incorporate numerous strategies for reaching these goals including more car-pooling/fee-based commuter lanes, more mass-transit for commuters, higher prices for parking in urban areas, and more commuter bicycle-walking paths.

“SANDAG is currently drawing up the region’s Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS), a comprehensive plan to guide new development and the evolution of our transportation system in ways that reduce solo driving and cut per capita emissions,” SANDAG Executive Director Gary Gallegos said in a prepared statement.

On Thursday, Gallegos assured U-T writer Michael Gardner that changes will take place gradually over a long period of time. “No one’s going to have to give up their cars,” Gallegos added.

But there are things that commuters can begin doing today to achieve greenhouse gas reductions, according to SANDAG.

To achieve a 7 percent reduction in greenhouse gases, a motorist could do one of the following:

• Telecommute to work one day a month

• Carpool two days a month

• Bike or walk instead of driving 10 miles a week

• Take the bus instead of driving 12 miles a week

To achieve a 13 percent reduction in greenhouse gases, a motorist could do one of the following:

• Telecommute to work two days a month

• Carpool to work four days a month

• Bike or walk instead of driving 18 miles a week

• Take a bus instead of driving 21 miles a week.

If this all still seems a bit harsh, San Diego motorists can take take solace in the fact that target percentages here are a bit lower than other major urban areas.